Kansas City International Airport Has Second Busiest Year in History

1/16/2019

The City of Kansas City, Mo., Aviation Department reports that 11,850,825 passengers traveled through Kansas City International Airport in 2018, up 3.0 percent from 2017. December totals were up 3.6 percent from 2017 figures, with 947,120 passengers arriving and departing through KCI’s gates during the month, which marked the busiest December on record. December passenger boardings were up 3.5 percent, with a total of 477,797, and up 3.2 percent for the year with 5,935,131 passengers enplaned in 2018.

“A record-setting December helped KCI Airport achieve the second-busiest year in the airport’s 46-year history,” said Pat Klein, Kansas City director of aviation. “I am proud of the Aviation Department staff for their work this past year and am extremely grateful to our passengers from the four-state region who choose to travel by air from Kansas City International Airport.”

Air cargo tonnages, which consist of both freight and mail transported by air, for all carriers at KCI were down 6.3 percent in December with a total of 18.4 million pounds handled. Year to date, 212.5 million pounds have been handled, up 2.3 percent. Air freight handled at KCI during December amounted to 17.8 million pounds, which is down 5.5 percent year-over-year. For 2018, air freight was up 3.5 percent with a total of 205.5 million pounds handled. Air mail for December was down 26.7 percent from December 2017 with 571,223 pounds handled. Air mail was down 24.0 percent in 2018 with 6.9 million pounds handled.

The number of peak-day scheduled aircraft departures for December 2018 was 170. Service was offered to 47 nonstop markets. There was an average of 39,422 arriving and departing seats available in the market each day. The all-cargo carriers reported eight daily departures for December.

The Kansas City Airport System is an Enterprise Fund Department of the City of Kansas City, Mo., and is supported wholly by airport user charges. No general fund tax revenues are used for the administration, promotion, operation, or maintenance of the airports in the system. Visit flykci.com for more information. Find us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagramand LinkedIn.